THE RISE OF THE NEW ARAB NATION
Photograph by Frederick Simpich
A SPECIMEN OF ARAB FORTIFICATIONS: ONE OF THE GATES TO THE CITY OF BAGDAD,
WALLED UP AFTER THE FALL OF THE CALIPH WHO BUILT IT
Western civilization owes a large debt to the Arab. It was under the caliphs that schools
of therapeutics were established in Bagdad, and such terms as alcohol, alembic, and alkali, as
well as apothecary symbols, testify to the Arab's contribution to the science of medicine.
Paris, are sneaked out to Bahrein by
Levantine traders and sold even to Arab
dealers.
Among the sentimental and romantic
Arabs a peculiar legend is current as to
the origin of pearls. They say that the
gems are formed from mermaids' tears,
which fall into the oyster while the shell
is open.
Other superstitious beliefs prevail con
cerning these gems of the ocean deeps.
For instance, it is a common practice
(only among the rich, needless to say) to
powder a pearl and swallow it either as
a tonic for failing vigor or to ward off
impending disease or ill luck; or a maiden
may rub her eyes with a pearl, and there
after, by merely gazing at a man, she
may make him her slave! Black pearls,
however, must be avoided, for Arabs
see in them some sinister manifestation
of the powers of darkness. Wealthy
Arabs have chains of pearls, or "prayer
beads," such as are carried by pious
Moslems.
Just who owns the Bahrein Island
group is not plain. An Arab sheik rules
over it, and has a treaty with the British
allowing the latter to maintain a consular
agent there. In return for Britain's aid
in protecting him from pirates, the sheik
consults the British before granting
pearling concessions to outsiders. For a
long time Persia claimed Bahrein; later
Turkey asserted her ownership, and
other powers, barring possibly Great
Britain, tacitly recognized the Sublime
Porte's claim.
A considerable colony of American
missionaries, of the American Arabian
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